When Parker Met Hannah
by DaLiza
Summary: Parker Booth sets the inevitable in motion. BB fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks yet again to my beta CalleighAryn for her suggestions. Hope you enjoy!**

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"I have a bad feeling about this."

Booth wrapped his arms around Hannah. "You're just nervous. But you don't need to be. Parker's going to _love_ you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I should warn you: I don't have a lot of experience with kids. If you gave me the choice of being in a room full of kids, or a room full of terrorists, I'd be more comfortable with the terrorists."

Booth's laughter was cut off as someone knocked on the front door of their apartment. "You'll be fine, I'll promise." He gave her a quick kiss and sprinted to the door.

Parker jumped into Booth's arms the second the door opened. "Hey Dad!"

"Hey bud! It's so good to see you." Hugging his son, Booth turned to the man who had accompanied him, Rebecca's boyfriend. "Thanks for bringing him by, Drew. I really appreciate you and Becca letting me have him this weekend."

"She says she's sorry it's been so long since you've been able to see him. I am too. Have a good weekend, guys." He waved goodbye to Parker and left.

With Parker still in his arms, Booth walked back into the apartment and closed the door behind him. "Are you ready to have a ton of fun this weekend?"

"Yea!" Parker shouted. "What are we going to do?"

"Tonight I thought we could order pizza for dinner, have ice cream for dessert, and watch a movie."

"Pizza from Papa Gino's?" Parker asked, naming his favorite pizza place.

"Of course."

"Awesome! And chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?"

Another favorite. His son was so predictable. "It's in the freezer right now."

"You're the best, Dad. What movie are we going to watch?"

Booth opened the cabinet under the television and began to read off titles. "Well, we've got _Cars_, _Finding Nemo, Toy Story, The Lion Ki-_ "

"Can we watch _Spiderman_?"

Booth pasted on a smile. Parker always wanted to watch _Spiderman._ Maybe he could pretend to lose it the next time his son came to visit. Or lose it for real. "Sure. Then tomorrow I got us tickets to a Capitals game, and on Sunday I figured we'd check out that visiting circus. I hear they've got lions and tigers and elephants and-"

"Clowns?" Parker interrupted, blissfully unaware of his father's phobia.

Booth suppressed a shudder. "Yeah, I'm sure they have clowns too." _Nice, non- homicidal clowns. _ "So what do you think?"

"Sounds good," Parker said. "Is Bones going to come to the game with us? Or to the circus?"

"No, Bones is busy this weekend." Booth didn't actually know what his partner had planned for the weekend, but he assumed she'd find some squinty stuff to keep her occupied.

"Oh." Parker's voice made his disappointment clear. "What about Grandpa Max?"

"_Grandpa_? Why would you call him that?"

"He told me to call him 'Grandpa'."

"Really." Booth made a mental note to have a talk with Max the next time he saw him.

Parker finally noticed the anxious looking woman standing in a corner of the living room. "Is that your girlfriend?"

Booth followed Parker's gaze to Hannah and gave her an encouraging smile. "That's her. Hannah, meet Parker. Parker, Hannah." Booth gently lowered his son to the floor.

Hannah approached Parker and bent down to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Parker. Your dad has told me a lot about you."

"Dad told me about you too," Parker said. "He said that you're a journalist, and that you've won a bunch of awards."

"That's true. Did he say anything else about me?" She asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"He said you were very pretty. And that when I met you, I had to be on my best behavior. He really likes you."

Hannah laughed. "I really like him too."

"So are you going to be my step-mom?"

Hannah shot a panicked look at Booth.

"We're not getting married, bud," Booth interjected. _Not yet, anyway. _

"Why not?" wondered Parker. "Because you love Bones?"

The color drained from Booth's face. "Why would you say that, Park?"

"Everyone says you love Bones."

"Who's everyone?" Booth pressed.

Parker started counting on his fingers. "Mom, Grandpa Max, Dr. Hodgins, Angela, Cam, the British intern, the sad intern-"

"Okay, you are NEVER hanging out at the Jeffersonian ever again."

"But I like the Jeffersonian! Grandpa Max teaches me how to do these really cool exp-"

"He's _NOT_ your grandfather," Booth interrupted. "Go play in your room. _Now_." His head hung low, the boy did as his father asked. "I can't believe he said that," Booth muttered when he and Hannah were alone again.

"Don't be mad at him. He was only being honest. " She put her arms around him. "I don't care what people are saying about you and Temperance; popular opinion isn't the same as truth."

Booth breathed a sigh of relief. "Exactly."

"It is only popular opinion, right?"

"Right," Booth agreed. "All that's in the past."

Hannah pulled away from him. "Meaning you did love her."

Booth's face reddened. It wouldn't be easy, but he had to tell her the truth. "Yeah. I used to think she was the one, but-"

"How long did you think that? Are we talking weeks, months…?"

"Years."

"How many years?"

He broke eye contact. "From the day we first met to the day she shot me down…six."

"You loved her for _six years_?" Hannah let out a low whistle. "Wow. And how long ago did she shoot you down?"

"Shortly before I left for Afghanistan."

"Oh. So I'm just the rebound girl then. That explains why you were so quick to ask me to move in with you. You're using me to get over her."

"No! I would _never_ use a woman like that. I had already moved on before I met you."

"You're sure about that?"

He kissed her. "Of course I'm sure. One hundred and ten percent."

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"Bones…baby…baby, baby…"

"Seeley!" Hannah shook her sleeping boyfriend's shoulder. "Seeley, wake up! Now!"

Booth slowly started to open his eyes. "What time is it?"

Hannah looked at the digital clock on the bedside table. "4:47."

"It's not time to wake up yet." His eyes now fully open, he found Hannah staring at him. She didn't look happy. "What's wrong?"

"You were talking in your sleep. You said 'Bones' and you called her baby. Several times."

_What? I called Bones 'baby'? _

Suddenly images from his dream were floating through his mind once more. In his mind's eye he was sitting in a chair with Bones on his lap, and she was telling him she was pregnant. Then they were smiling and kissing each other thoroughly.

_That's why I was saying 'baby'. Because Bones was having my baby. __**Our**__ baby._

_I was having my coma dream again. _

_I love that dream._

_I do?_

_Yes, I do._

_Whoa._

_If I still love the idea of being married to Bones, of starting a family with her…_

_Then I still love __**her**__._

_But I love Hannah too._

_I'm confused._

"_The course of true love never did run smooth."_

_Shakespeare. How do I know that?_

_Bronze Shakespeare statue guy!_

_But why did it pop in my head just now?_

_Because I know deep down that Bones is my true love?_

_But Bones doesn't want me!_

_But I still love her._

_I've always loved her._

_Crap._

"Okay. Maybe I still have some feelings for Bones. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I do."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I know. I love you too, but I can't possibly compete with a woman you've loved for six years. Your heart still belongs to her, and I bet it always will."

"Hannah, I'm so sor-"

"Don't apologize, Seeley; It's no one's fault." She wiped away her tears with the back of one hand. "You can't help who you love. Temperance is an amazing woman, and I honestly hope the two of you will be happy together someday."

Less than an hour later, Hannah had packed up everything she owned. She gave Booth one last hug before walking out of his apartment and his life.

_I should have known she'd leave me sooner or later, _Booth thought as he watched her go.

_I may not have loved Hannah the way I loved…okay, love…Bones, but she made me happy._

_I doubt I'll ever be that happy again._

He was wrong.

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**I'm thinking of doing one more chapter to give BB their happy ending. Interested?**

**Thanks for reading my little fic. All comments are greatly appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**One Month Later**

"You're not the Booth I was expecting."

It was 7:04 P.M., so almost all of the Jeffersonian's employees were at home, enjoying the company of their significant others, children, pets, and televisions. But not Brennan. She had no reason to go home and no one waiting for her, so she had been working on identifying a set of remains from Limbo. She had returned those remains to their assigned drawer ten minutes ago so she could meet Parker in the lounge on the Jeffersonian's upper level. Yet Baby Booth, as Angela called him, was nowhere to be seen. Instead she found herself face to face with his father, who she rarely saw outside of work these days.

"You were expecting Parker?" Booth asked.

"Yes."

"So was I. He called me and said Becca was going to drop him off here so we could have dinner together at the diner."

Brennan's confusion deepened. "I received a call from him as well. He asked me to meet him here because he wanted my help on a science fair project. Why would he ask both of us to be here and then not show up himself?"

"Because he set us up, Bones. Look at that." Booth pointed to a round table at the other end of the lounge. It was covered with a red and white checkered tablecloth, two red candles, a vase filled with red roses, two plates, utensils, a bowl of salad, a basket of bread, a pot of pasta, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. As Brennan approached the table, she noticed place cards beside the plates. One place card had "Dad" written in big black letters; underneath that, in smaller print, was "(Seeley Booth)". The other was labeled "Bones" with a human skull drawn inside the "o". The skull wasn't entirely accurate, but Brennan thought that it was pretty good for a child's drawing.

"Parker did all this for us? I'm very impressed."

"He is an impressive kid, but he must have had help. I bet Angela, Hodgins and Cam pitched in. Maybe the squinterns too. Or even Grandpa Max."

"I didn't know Parker had a Grandpa Max."

Booth chuckled. "He doesn't. That's what Parker calls your dad. As far as he's concerned, Max is family. So are you."

Brennan smiled as she recalled Booth saying that there was more than one kind of family. "I'm glad he feels that way. But I still don't understand why he would go to all the trouble of arranging a meal for us."

"He feels responsible for me and Hannah breaking up," Booth said with a sigh. "We talked about it last weekend when he stayed at my place. I told him it wasn't his fault, but I could see he still felt bad about it. I think this is his way of trying to make amends."

"I am sorry about Hannah." She was sorry Booth had been hurt, but she didn't miss having the journalist around. Seeing Booth so happy with another woman had been more painful than she could have logically anticipated.

"It's okay, Bones. I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't going to last." Not wanting to dwell on his latest relationship failure, he turned his attention to the food before them. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Shall we?"

"Sure."

The partners sat at their assigned seats and began to eat. "This is really good," Booth said after taking a bite of pasta.

"I agree. Your son and whoever helped him did an excellent job."

After a few minutes passed in silence, Booth realized Brennan was staring at him. "What's on your mind, Bones?"

"I was just thinking about how much I missed this."

"You missed pasta?" Booth teased.

"No, I missed us eating together. I miss all the things we used to do together outside of work. We're barely more than co-workers now, and I find that very distressing."

Booth could see she was close to tears. He reached for her hand and she gave it to him without hesitation. "I know what you mean."

_This is it, _Booth thought.

_I'm going to tell her I still want a relationship with her._

_Whoa! Bad idea. She'll just break your heart again. You remember how much that hurt? You really want to put yourself through that all over again?_

_I can't go back to pretending I don't have feelings for her!_

_But that's exactly what you need to do if you want to keep working with her. Keep your mouth shut._

_For how long? A year? Ten years? The rest of my life? I can't live like that._

_You have to. She doesn't love you. _

_Maybe she does. Maybe she only rejected me last time because I used the wrong approach. Or because I rushed her._

_Wishful thinking. She rejected you because she doesn't think you're good enough for her. Andy Lister in her books is a Harvard graduate who speaks six languages. That's the kind of guy she wants, and you'll never be that guy._

"Booth?" Brennan was looking at him with concern. "You're being very quiet. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Your facial expression suggests otherwise."

Booth laughed. "You say you're not good at reading people, but you can always read me easily enough."

"So will you tell me what's bothering you? Please?"

_Okay. I __**have**__ to tell her._

_Don't. You'll just screw up the relationship you have._

_Or maybe I'll start an even better one._

"I lied to you when I told you that I moved on. I didn't. I couldn't. That's why Hannah broke up with me- she figured out that my heart was still yours, and that it always would be. I love you, Bones. I know you don't believe in love, but if you give me the chance, I'll spend the rest of my life proving to you that it exists."

The normally quick-witted Dr. Temperance Brennan didn't rush to respond.

_Say something, Bones. Anything. Please. The silence is killing me._

_She's crying. You made her cry!_

"I'm sorry, Bones. I shouldn't keep trying to push you into a relationship. If all you want from me is friendship, then that's what I'll give you. I know you don't let many people get close to you, so I feel lucky that you even consider me a friend."

"No."

"No, you don't consider me a friend?" _ Way to go, Seeley. You've ruined everything._

"I do consider you a friend. But I don't want only friendship from you. I have fantasies about us becoming intimate quite frequently. I've been afraid to act on those fantasies because my brain tells me that I'm terrible at relationships, and that if I enter into a relationship with you, I'll end up losing the best friend I've ever had. But you've taught me to listen to my heart, metaphorically speaking, and my heart says that I should give you a chance. I want to give _us_ a chance."

Booth leaned towards her, closing the distance between them. "My brain and heart had a similar debate. I'm glad my heart won."

"I am too."

After tasting each other's lips again and again, they finished their meal and walked out of the Jeffersonian hand in hand.

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"I've got good news for you, Baby Booth," Angela said when Parker answered the phone the following evening. Moments earlier, she and Cam had been watching Booth and Brennan kiss on the previous night's security footage. For the sixth time. "Your plan worked."

"Really? That's awesome! Bones can be my step-mom! She and Dad can give me a baby brother!"

"Don't start thinking about baby names just yet," Angela warned, trying to sound serious but failing miserably. "These things take time."

"But you think it'll happen someday?"

She grinned as she imagined her child on a swing set with Booth and Brennan's. "Definitely."

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**Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.**


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